A brief, before the design

The brief is the
foundation of the work.

A short, structured way to write the brief before the design starts. Two flows: a brand brief that defines the strategic foundation, and project briefs that inherit from it. Export as one or two pages a designer actually uses.

1. 01

   Investigate

   Get clear on what the brand actually is today. Audit competitors and peers, map the territory, and find the gap worth standing in before changing anything.

2. 02

   Strategy

   Five sentences that make five choices: reason for existing, real difference, who it's built for, what it protects, and the character it carries.

3. 03

   Narrative

   Turn the strategy into a working summary the brand can carry — who it's for, what it does for them, why they should care, in one line.

4. 04

   Design direction

   Place the brand on a spectrum and name what design must express and must avoid. The bridge between strategy and what a designer sees.

5. 05

   Implementation

   Where the brand shows up, in what order, and the one rule that must not be broken when everything else drifts.